Here are a few of the things I learned
The US Navy afforded me the opportunity to spend a night on the USS Nimitz…I flew out and landed on the carrier and was catapult-launched off the following afternoon. I climbed countless ladders, stepped over hundreds of knee knockers and toured the ship exhaustively. I was amazed at the competence, professionalism and teamwork of her crew. The following are a few of the things that fascinated me.
No vacation days.
While all work schedules are different, when at sea, you’ll generally be working all week long (that’s all seven days of the week, you don’t get weekends off.) Most of the sailors I met work about 12 hours a day. The Air Boss works from when the first plane goes up until the last one lands. The Captain has a tiny bed off of the bridge and sleeps when he can.
Getting lost is easy.
With 4.5 acres of flight deck, almost 1,100 feet in length, thousands of bulkheads, knee knockers and frames, something like 17 stories and very, very few windows, it’s easy to get turned around. Even though every bulkhead is marked with its location on the ship, getting lost is a requirement. One of my escorts said it took her months until she was comfortable navigating the ship. Sometimes to get where you need to go you’ll need to go down a deck, then pop up somewhere else and come back to where you need to be.
Energy drinks rule the roost.
Over one 24-hour period, the Monster energy drink machines on the USS Nimitz sold $30,000 worth of products according to a ship’s store sailor. They charge $2 a can.
It’s a young person’s game.
Average age aboard is probably 20. See my comment about energy drinks above.
You work until your job is complete.
Like the Air Boss, there are lots of jobs that, done correctly, don’t have a time card attached to them. You’ll be working until there is no more work to do. While that may sound harsh, life on a carrier comes down to teamwork. As I heard countless times, everyone has to do their part. In an emergency, this large team is all that they have. “This is just the attitude you want from your employees…your salaried employees that is.” said Captain Kevin Lenox, smiling.
Mail rules.
Internet access is very limited. Communal computers in the library are in high demand and the ship goes “dark” whenever operationally required. That can be a lot. So good old snail mail is often a sailor’s best friend.
“Teamwork, a tradition”
I passed this slogan in the hanger bay many times during my visit. I didn’t really give it a too much thought until after I got back home. The Navy averages about 35% turnover annually. (That’s turnover, not retention; I don’t know the retention numbers.) Each year, over a third of your team changes. That means training. Lots and lots and lots of training; all the time. I saw a general quarters drill, heard a propeller shaft emergency call at 2am and virtually without exception, everyone I spoke with mentioned the word “team.” Guns, bombs, millions of gallons of jet fuel, two nuclear reactors…It can come down to life and death here very quickly, and these sailors know training as a team is their lifeline.
You serve the needs of the Navy first.
Talking with a sailor in the bomb assembly area really drove this home. For his first two months he “learned how to operate a broom and dustpan.” Not exactly the bomb assembly he spoke with his recruiter about. Now that the Nimitz is out to sea again, he’s working on bomb assembly, right where he wants to be.
Colds spread like fire…both are equally welcome on a ship.
About 5,ooo people live on an aircraft carrier. 4.5 acres big, about 17 stories tall. Handrails, doorknobs, hatch latches, bulkheads, and shower-stalls all get touched. A lot. The sailor in the medical suite laughed when I asked how quickly colds and the flu go through the ship. Lots of fluids, Mucinex and rest (if you can get it) is his most common prescription.
The flight deck is one of the most dangerous environments in the world.
As the Air Boss says: “I put you in a boat coat and cranial and send you out on the flight deck. Here you go, now go do your job.” Training and safety are paramount here. Jet fuel, munitions, landing helicopters, launching jets, landing jets, huge cables…everything is large, loud and moving very fast. It’s incredibly fast paced and dangerous work. After cat 1 one fires, you turn around, race 20 feet and then do it again for your cat 2 launch, avoiding jet blast and retracting cat hooks in the process. If you don’t pay attention, you may end up dead. Now imagine how hard this is when you’re tired and working in 120-degree heat.
Clothes get washed. and usually you get them all back.
The ship’s laundry will take care of yours. Put it in a big bag and send it off. Most of the time it all comes back to you…washed and dried in your bag. Bags rip and tear though, so putting your name on all the clothes you want to get back is just as important here as it is in grade school. Self-service laundry is also available. TIP: if you go in the middle of the night, you’ll probably snag an empty machine.
The Chiefs’ Mess is an incredible place to eat.
The chiefs like what creature comforts they can arrange for themselves. Somehow the best cooks work for them. Out of their own pockets, they’ve paid for four great large-screen TVs in their mess, which also has hard and soft-serve ice cream (and pierogis on the day I visited). Oh, and their lounge off the mess includes about 20 huge recliners and a massive TV. They come together as a team to pay for these upgrades themselves (and disassembled the recliners and then reassembled them in their lounge in order to get them there). The pecan pie was wonderful. Oh, and their mess coffee isn’t too bad either.
| Thanks to the United States Navy for the opportunity to visit the USS Nimitz and see and experience first-hand what life aboard looks like. |
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